Trees are the raw material for paper production. On an average, a 45 feet tall and 8-inch-wide tree can produce 10,000 fine quality sheets. A single large pulp and paper mill can consume over 3.5 million tons of wood in a year.
The production process in conventional pulp and paper mills are not eco-friendly. The process of pulp production results in releasing toxins into air and water. We use a lot of papers, that means we also support deforestation for paper production.
What if a waste is used to produce papers? The use of elephant dung to produce papers can solve the issues caused by conventional pulp and paper industries.
Herbivores like cow, elephant and other grazing animals eat a lot of cellulose-rich food. They can not digest the food completely. The dung of these animals contains cellulose. This cellulose can be used to produce paper.
The method used for making dung paper is similar to making other varieties of handmade paper. The processing of cellulose in dung is much simpler compared to that of raw wood. Dung cellulose is already processed by digestive enzymes. So, dung papers require less energy and chemical for their production.
The production process is quite simple. It involves the collection of dung, boiling it with a sterilizing agent, adding fillers to enhance the quality of fibre, crushing it to reduce the size of fibres, separation of pulp and spreading it for drying.
These dung papers are manufactured by Haathi chaap in India, Nampath in Kenya, Maximus in Sri Lanka and Elephant Poopoopaper Park in Thailand. All these companies use elephant dung as the main raw material for manufacturing paper.
The application of these papers can vary from being used as office papers to filter papers.
The papers do not stink. They are durable. The cost of these papers is similar to that of conventionally produced papers. An average elephant consuming 250Kg of food produces 50Kg of dung, this is enough to make 125 A4 size sheets. So the raw material is available easily free of cost.
These companies not only provide a sustainable solution for paper production but also help in providing jobs to local people.